FEBRUARY IS A month we associate with love. And what
says “I love you,” and “I love being with you,” more than
planning and taking a trip together? Travel offers the
opportunity to relax, connect and create unique, intimate,
lifelong memories together.

For the past 15 years, Costco Travel has helped thousands of Costco members do just that. Whether it has
been a Caribbean honeymoon cruise, a family reunion at
an exotic all-inclusive resort, a vacation in Hawaii or
Europe, or time with the children at a theme park, Costco
members have been able to experience a wide variety of
offerings with the exceptional quality and value that they
expect from Costco. A few of these members share their Costco Travel experiences in
our cover story, beginning on page 26. We are proud of the strides we have made in continuing to expand the number of destinations, properties and other packages we offer.

Of course, another traditional way to express love is through romance. A quiet can-dlelit dinner, a thoughtful gift or heartfelt words and deeds (such as fixing something
around the house—see our special section on hardware, beginning on page 35) speak
volumes to our loved ones and remind them of how special they are in our lives. In our
story on pairing wine and chocolate (page 53), readers will learn how to create a new
and different experience for a special evening. For chocolate lovers, the story about
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (page 51), a Costco supplier, will provide inspiration, while our story on wines and ports from Portugal (page 55) might just help when
making a wine selection for that certain someone.

While all of these items, as well as jewelry and beautiful flower arrangements, are
available at Costco warehouses, members should remember that they can also order
gifts, flowers, chocolates and more for delivery on Costco.com.

From our hearts to yours, we wish you the best. Happy travels and happy Valentine’s
Day from all of us at Costco! C

Ginnie Roeglin is Senior Vice
President, E-Commerce and
Publishing, and Publisher of

The Costco Connection.

from the editor’s desk

Tim Talevich

SEVERAL STORIES IN this month’s Connection
deal with affairs of the heart. The link? February is
American Heart Month—and, of course, Valentine’s
Day is February 14. Not to knock our other vital organs,
It beats about 100,000 times a day, enough to send

2,000 gallons of blood through your body (via 60,000miles of blood vessels). That thump-thump of a heart-beat is the sound made by the four valves of the heartclosing. Of all your organs, the heart does the mostwork in the course of a lifetime.

Of course, there’s more to the heart than what doctors say, perhaps for the simple
reason that it beats harder when we’re frightened, or in love. Ancient philosophers
such as Aristotle believed the heart was the most important organ in the body—the seat
of intelligence and emotion. Poets have had their own take on the matter: “And then
my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils,” wrote William Wordsworth
(“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”). And, yes, laughter is good medicine. A good belly
laugh can send 20 percent more blood flowing through your entire body.

Today, scientists have used high-tech imaging to determine that emotions such
as love happen not in the heart, but in the brain. Still, we say people are heartbroken,
downhearted, kindhearted, softhearted, coldhearted and fainthearted, we have sweethearts and heartthrobs, and we “heart” people and things on social media.

So in honor of February and hearts, consider this thought from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is
essential is invisible to the eye.” C